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šŸ‘¤ The REAL threat that's keeping us from 100% clean energy

What's the REAL threat stopping us from getting to 100% clean energy, and why it's hard to believe it

Welcome to Z-Pack:.one topic, 2 minutes - easy to consume and fast-acting āš”ļø

If this is your first Z-Pack, welcome - I'm Zach.

I’m chronically online, finding out how the world works.

ā¬‡ļø Let’s get it.

šŸ‘¤ The REAL threat that's keeping us from 100% clean energy

*Sorry in advance for the crappy sizing on this photo below, but it was the best I could do!

The headlines: Oh man, where to even start? We’ve got a laundry list of things to blame: plastic straws, the evil corporations that produce most of the emissions (inaccurate), etc.

The reality:

  • To paraphrase economist Noah Smith - ā€œfossil fuel companies are the biggest obstacle when it comes to decarbonizing our economy… But especially in the United States, there’s another big threat: NIMBYism (ā€œnot in my backywardā€/anti-new construction). 
    Solar and wind power requires a lot of land, and the U.S. has a lot of land, but we also have a whole lot of people who are committed to opposing essentially any projects that would develop that land in any way.ā€

The TLDR:

  • Climate action and conservation can often clash - America’s top environmental groups often oppose clean energy projects due to their principles of conservation, despite acknowledging the urgency of a rapid energy transition/the need to construct more solar and wind farms, for example.

  • And yes, again, fossil fuel companies are still the BIGGEST obstacle - for example, coal plants are only 20% of our power mix right now, but it makes up more than half of the power sector’s CO2 emissions, because it’s so dirty.

What to expect next?

To quote the longer post you can read at the end - ā€œThe solution will involve rethinking what it means to be ā€˜environmentalist.’ The term is usually understood to encompass a wide range of different causes–from climate activism, to habitat conservation, to recycling and plastic straw bans. But it’s worth remembering that not everything coded as ā€œgreenā€ helps fight climate change, and much of it is actively counterproductive.ā€

Btw, I’m generally optimistic, especially with the recent good news that projected global warming has fallen by a THIRD since 2014.

Still hungry for more info?

  • See the full post I was quoting above from Wally Nowinski, former CMO of Collage.com (sold in 2021), and former democratic ads director for House and Senate Dem candidates

Thanks for taking the Pack,

Zach

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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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